The holiday selling season and Q4 are the most lucrative times for a FBA seller. It seems like almost everything sells, and sells fast! But once Christmastime has passed, many FBA resellers make some huge mistakes that could cost them hundreds (if not thousands) in potential profits. In this blog post, I’ll share with you my biggest tips on successfully running your Amazon business post-Christmastime. Having a wise post-Christmas business strategy is one of the best ways to start the new year off right.
Here are some things to think about once you’re done unwrapping your last present:
1. Don’t automatically lower your prices – Just because Christmas is over doesn’t mean that big time sales are over too. Don’t forget that people now have Amazon gift cards burning a hole in their pockets. Not only that, but buyers are now ready to buy the gifts they actually want. People will still be buying like crazy in January, and if you lower your prices, you’ll only lower your profits. Some FBA sellers have Januarys almost as good as Decembers, simply because they follow this one piece of advice.
2. Go thrifting – If thrifting is in your business model, then after Christmas is “the most wonderful time of the year.” Many people decide that the week after Christmas is the time they want to clean out their homes of excess stuff. That paired with New Year’s resolutions to “get organized” bring massive amounts of donations to thrift stores. If you usually hit thrift stores once a week, then I’d highly suggest going a lot more often. Some people even donate unwanted Christmas gifts that are still brand new.
3. Check out after-Christmas clearance sales – With end-of-the-year inventories looming, many stores are desperate to move excess products. This provides a great opportunity for FBA sellers. Check both online and brick-and-mortar stores to see what’s on sale. This is also a good time to look at Christmas-themed products that are clearance priced at up to 90% off. It doesn’t seem to make sense, but Christmas-themed items have the potential to sell pretty well year round. I’ve sold ornaments in April, a Grinch inflatable lawn decoration in May, Christmas CDs in June, and holiday movies in July! Be sure to check Keepa to see if you can expect these holiday-themed items to sell sometime in the next 6 months.
4. Look back over the past year – Look back at your sales and financial numbers. What worked for you? What lessons did you learn? Look back at your FBA business goals and see how you did. This is also a great time to make new FBA goals for the coming year. Actually create the goals that will help take your Amazon business to the next level. If you skip this strategy then your sales next year will not grow as much as they would if you had taken the time to seriously look back (at your results) and look forward (setting new goals).
5. Put your profits back into your business – As stated in an earlier blog post, using your Q4 profits wisely can really help your FBA business. Maybe you are ready to get a shrink wrap machine, a barcode scanner, or new laptop. Maybe you’re ready to sign up for a year’s membership to InventoryLab or BQool. The possibilities are endless. To hear some more ideas on how to use your Q4 profits wisely, click here.
As with most tips, there are some exceptions. If you highly invested in certain toys that you hoped would flip quickly for the holidays and you would rather get your investment back than wait for the items to sell at the price you want, then you may want to lower your price. Many FBA businesses are modeled on the “fast flip” method and would rather get their money back and invest it in other products.
So what about you? What strategies are you implementing as we approach the new year? I’d love to hear your ideas, so comment below!
*Blog updated for 2020
It’s not too early to start thinking about next year! In fact, if you wait until January to start planning for the new year then you’re setting yourself up to be left behind. I don’t want you to miss out on any opportunity for the new year, which is why I created The Reseller’s Guide to a Year in FBA.
Right now is the best time to make next year your Best Amazon sales year ever!
Imagine knowing exactly what to expect in your Amazon FBA business every month of the year. Imagine what it would feel like knowing you were not missing out on any of the opportunities that will come your way in the new year. Imagine working on your Amazon business knowing exactly what your priorities are, what you need to avoid, and what you need to accomplish during each month to make progress toward making the new year your best sales year ever.
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Excellent ideas, especially balancing between flipping and holding for higher profits. A good idea is to consider the size and storage fees for items that are a little iffy. Especially if you have anything that will hit the long term fees then it might be worthwhile unloading even at slightly lower profits.
Thank you for the suggestions.
i know every store that is overstocked and what i want on sale..will hit them day after xmas and again if items go even lower..i’ll be buying like i was at the ASD show..fantastic sales since october..looking forward to january
Those are great ideas!
I found the idea about buying clearance Christmas items to resell throughout the year the most helpful. I didn’t know that Christmas products sold throughout the year, and I definitely will be on the lookout for some to resale.
Thank you very much for all those helpful solutions and tips that I, especially as a relatively new starter find very, very useful. Many thanks.
Thanks for giving us a great year of content Stephen. Really like tip 4, definitely going to review goals and update. Happy Holidays to you and your family.
Stephen,
I like your posts-period! They are topic-specific and hard hitting; you give tangibles, not vague advice. PLEASE keep it up! Happy Holidays!!
Hi, Stephen! Thank you so much for all you’ve done here. These tips in particular are something I may not have thought of. Great advice.
I started my little FBA experiment back in September of 2015. It looked interesting and exciting. I knew it wouldn’t be an easy or quick way to replace my day job, but there was so much potential. It took me forever since I was learning everything as I went, but eventually I sent in some things I had around the house and a few things I bought from Toys R Us as a test. I think I sold one or two of those by January. That was encouraging and I decided to do more, with what little capital I had.
Then my mother got sick and all my focus was on her for months. Don’t worry, she’s better now. 🙂 So, by the summer I was buying things and sending them in again. It’s a slow, slow process when you’re doing it all on your own and your budget is minuscule. Even slower when I finally found something amazing like OAXRay, decided to subscribe to see if it actually could save me tons of time and actually help find products to buy (rather than the normal research-one-product-at-a-time grind that made me want to bang my head into my desk 8 hours a day), then had to unsubscribe after just two moths because my job decided to have major problems at the exact same time and since September 2016 has given me only 2/3 the hours I used to get. That other 1/3 of my was my entire budget. Using the more affordable Cyber Monkey Deals for now.
So, my dream of FBA independence was eroded over the entire year, basically before I could even start. I had only managed to get 140 or so items into Amazon warehouses. But still I researched, kept up with FullTimeFBA, and finally got sales taxes set up. Then just this week I woke up to a sale. “Nice,” I thought, “but that’ll be it for at least a month.” Then over the next few days there were 6 more sales! I know that’s hardly anything compared to anyone else here, but it quite surprised me and finally feels like a start after more than a year. This could work! I always loved Christmas and now I have another reason to love it even more.
Now, if work would just pick up again. They’re trying, but there’s an error right now, which is why I had the time to write this. Got nothing but time at the moment. *sigh* Oh, shoot, I should be making Christmas cookies! Thank you again for keeping me going throughout this year. Happy Holidays!
thanks for sharing your story, Erin. Keep pressing on and you’ll find more success.
Very helpful and concise. I am a new subscriber and very pleased with the high quality content thus far. Merry Christmas!
Thanks for all you do for us; the advice and words of wisdom. May God richly bless you, your lovely wife and family. Merry Christmas my friend, never ever change!
Merry Christmas to your Stephen and your family. Merry Christmas also to all my new friends here, please know that i pray for all in this group everyday.
I can’t wait to grow my business, taking baby steps right now, as I learn everyday.
Hi Stephen,
I have always appreciated your blog. It always have a lot to teach. I have to thank you immensely for the advises and support. It is worth a million dollars . As a matter of fact, I started winding down,selling my high yielding toys from early last week. From yesterday, I noticed the prizes of my listed goods coming down fast. I am fine. This is my first year with Amazon FBA, as I told you, have learnt a lot. My health still restricts me. But I will do my best in the new year. NY greetings to Rebecca
Hi Stephen,
I really appreciate reading your blogs that I just signed up for a month ago I’m in the process of signing up as a FullTime FBA business owner starting in the new year and reading this has been helpful, I know for sure this is the right move to make for the new year thanks a lot.
Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!!
Cynthia Johnson
Very good
Hi Stephen,
Do you favor tactical arbitrage over oaxray
Thanks in advance for your reply
We use TA for our online arbitrage sourcing… and we use OAXray for our wholesale spreadsheet sourcing. Here is more on the comparison: https://www.fulltimefba.com/review-tactical-arbitrage-oaxray/